Afternoon

The lazy sunset shines limply into the brown castle by the sea, bringing autumn warmth to the room through the floor-to-ceiling windows that surround it.

Standing on the soft wool blanket, Ji Qi looked at the calendar outlined by the red marker on the wall in a daze, and his plain white slender fingers slowly turned white from the opening to the end of the calendar, and the fingertips slowly whitened due to force.

He looked stupidly at the last few uncrossed numbers representing the date on his fingertips, his inky eyes glinting with water.

I didn't expect to end this special journey so soon on the agreed date. He looked at the twenty-seven numbers crossed out by the red ink from top to bottom, and sighed heavily.

Turning around and picking up the marker on the low table, he unscrewed the cap, looked at the calendar and was silent for a few seconds, and finally gritted his teeth and crossed out the twenty-eighth day.

There are still two days to leave here, Jiqi looked at the form that was about to be filled with red, and smiled bitterly, not knowing whether to be happy or reluctant.

From the first day, all he wanted was to end the long month as soon as possible, and then return to his town guard's mansion, never to return. But when the day of parting is coming, his mood is not happy and excited, but like the leaves that have begun to turn yellow outside the window, there is the gloom of autumn and the reluctance to part. Looking around at everything strange but familiar, he turned to stand in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, staring at the round sun that was about to set and smear the sea with afterglow.

After so many days of getting along, he also learned that the name of the girl who liked to wear black kimono was Yamato, and he also knew that her favorite thing to do was to play paper umbrellas on rainy days and step on the ground to make splashes. My favorite drink is fresh orange juice on the rocks, and my favorite snack is takoyaki with wasabi, and I have to sprinkle some seasoning on it every time, saying that it tastes like this. Thinking of this episode, he grinned and smirked, holding his head high and blinking his eyes repeatedly, not letting tears condense in his moist eyes.

Of course, she is also the same as other girls, she likes to go shopping and watch movies, and she will scream excitedly when she meets cute dolls, and she also likes to play with the crane machine, but she didn't succeed once, but she grabbed several cute bear and flower cat doll pillows for her, and she was happy like a satisfied little girl, smiling innocently like a warm sunshine. At that moment, Ji Qi looked at her, his eyes were doting, he even completely forgot the fact that the other party was a deep sea, and seemed to want to continue like this forever, never until the day of separation.

But just like the teacher who once taught himself said, there is no banquet in the world that will not be dispersed, and all the shipwives and admirals will one day be separated because of their lives, which is an unavoidable reality. And the only thing we can do is to cherish the time we have with her now, and accept it even in the face of death that comes.

At that time, he sat under the podium and did not quite understand the words of the gray-haired professor, but as time passed, he finally knew what parting meant, and he might never see each other again, which was the essence of parting.

Yamato, maybe I'll never have a chance to meet again in the future. Ji Qi said weakly in his heart, the inky pupils reflected the sunset that was gradually sinking in the west, and the light inside gradually dimmed until it was pitch black.

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"Gathering prayers? What are you doing here? Suddenly, the hidden door behind him was quietly pushed open, and the little smiling head looked curiously.

"Yamato?" Jiqi twitched his nose and didn't dare to turn back for the first time, but raised his wrist to wipe the wet corners of his eyes, pursed his lips and turned around with a smile. "Didn't you say you were going to the kitchen to make dinner for me? How did you get here? After eating her own meals for so long, she plans to try it herself out and cook herself a delicious dinner.

When cooking for the observation of Jiqi a few days ago, Yamato not only ate secretly on the side, but also had a new task, picking up a small book to record the key points of each dish and preparing for his own attempts in the future.

"That ......" Yamato muttered with his hands behind his back and did not answer. She had been looking at the ingredients and spices that had been carefully prepared for her on the board, and she was full of confidence and ready to show off her skills. But as soon as I got started, I found that cooking was not as simple as I imagined, and it was made in strict accordance with the process on the notebook, and what came out of the oven turned out to be a black mass of residue that could not be seen as a prototype. Looking at the recipe called fish-flavored shredded pork and then looking at the black smoke paste on his plate, Yamato instantly felt that he didn't have the talent to cook at all, so it was better to eat ready-made food honestly.

But despite this, he still brought the failed work out of the kitchen, hoping to surprise Jiqi.

"What's wrong? Is it not done well? Jiqi walked in a few steps and asked with concern, the first time he cooked, he also suffered a blow, and made a defective product that was qualified in appearance but unqualified in taste. However, after the practice, he can finally get the affirmation of his mentor Feng Xiang. "The first time you make it, you will say that there is a problem, this is normal, you don't have to mind." He reached out and rubbed the girl's frustrated little head, whispering comfort.

Where is it not done well, it is obvious that he messed everything up, Yamato bit his mouth and whispered in his heart.

"Yes...... Not well done," she nodded slightly, her pretty eyes full of grievances. "Look...... This is the shredded pork I made. As she spoke, she blushed and slowly pulled out the tray hidden behind her, a burnt smell emitting over the black, unidentified goo, and began to permeate the room.

"Isn't that ...... Failure, obviously I did what you said, but ...... What is done is not ...... at all It's not the same. She replied in a choked voice, looking down at her first debut, her eyes moist.

"Fish-flavored shredded pork?" Jiqi took the plate and looked at the unidentified object in a daze, if Yamato hadn't told him that it was the so-called shredded meat, he would really think it was a burnt steel bar. Smiling softly, Ji Qi reached out and pinched a small piece from the plate and put it in his mouth, the rich smell of burnt paste choked his throat, and his mouth was full of bitter taste like Chinese medicine.

He took a deep breath and swallowed the discomfort, nodding his head. "It's okay, it's not that pretty, but it tastes good." He gave his comments with a smile against his will, and his sincere smile made it difficult to doubt.

Because he knows that very few succeed in what he does for the first time, and most people continue to grow from failure after failure until they can achieve perfection. So all he can do for the downcast Yamato is to give encouragement and make her believe that she can do it.

"Really...... It's true? The girl, who was ready to accept failure, looked up in disbelief at the teenager who kept eating her work. The taste is really ...... Isn't it as unpalatable as you think? She asked again in disbelief, for fear that she had misheard the result just now.

"Yes, it tastes good, but I put more salt, and it would be nice to put less next time." Ji Qi nodded affirmatively, and kept stuffing his mouth with a smoky taste of salty enough to kill people, he remembered that he told Yamato that he only needed to put two spoonfuls of salt to make this dish, and it stands to reason that even if the fire is fried, it will not be like pouring a bag of salt into it, which can make people salty.

After taking the last bite, he picked up the water glass on the table and poured it violently, rinsing the taste away from his mouth with a clear stream of water. After drinking the water, Jiqi exhaled vigorously and continued, "As long as you pay attention to the heat and the amount of salt next time, you will almost be able to make a delicious meal." ”

He smiled and stretched out his hand, patting Yamato's shoulder gently, and his smart eyes seemed to say words of encouragement such as 'just pay attention next time'.

But if I keep eating this kind of food for the last two days, I'm afraid I won't be able to make it to part. Ji Qi smiled helplessly in his heart while smiling.

The third is more sent